Surge in Anti-South Asian Hate Speech Online Driven by Political Rhetoric and Economic Anxiety, Report Reveals

A comprehensive new report titled “The Rising Tide of Anti-South Asian Hate in the United States”, published on Sunday by the Center for the Study of Organized Hate (CSOH), reveals that hate speech targeting South Asians in the United States has escalated dramatically online.

The study found that the monthly volume of hateful content directed toward South Asians on the social media platform X surged by 240 percent between January 2024 and June 2026, climbing from 12,904 posts to 43,843 posts. Researchers documented more than 542,000 hateful posts on the platform targeting individuals of South Asian descent living in the US between January 2025 and June 2026 alone, with five of the six highest-volume months occurring near the end of that timeframe.

Utilizing the United Nations definition of hate speech, researchers tracked recurring slurs and narratives while excluding criticism that fell below the UN threshold. Nearly half of these hateful posts on X accused South Asians of invading the US, stealing jobs, or posing a demographic threat. Furthermore, the derogatory slur “pajeet” and its variants appeared in 30 percent of hateful posts on X and 45 percent on fringe platforms. Content depicting South Asians as unhygienic experienced the fastest growth, rising 171 percent on X.

Researchers attribute this surge to a combination of longstanding prejudices and contemporary political and economic pressures, linked closely to US President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown and political rhetoric. A major flashpoint identified in the report is the H-1B visa programme, where Indian nationals account for over 70 percent of visa holders. Spikes in online hostility frequently aligned with political debates surrounding the programme, such as President Donald Trump's implementation of a $100,000 payment requirement on specific new H-1B petitions in September 2025, and his criticism of US technology companies outsourcing jobs to India during an AI summit in July 2025.

Additional examples cited include a since-deleted September 2026 Department of Homeland Security post titled “Transformers: Age of Deportations” featuring a Sikh man named “Mr Singh”, and a Department of Education post titled “Make College Football Great Again” following complaints by Texas Republican Bo French regarding South Asian attendance at a University of Texas football game.

The report also notes that economic anxieties have weaponized the success of South Asians, shifting stereotypes from a “model minority” to “opportunists and cheats” who serve as scapegoats for broader economic frustrations. This occurs alongside the growing visibility of South Asian figures in US politics across party lines, including former Vice President Kamala Harris, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Usha Vance (wife of Vice President JD Vance), and politician Vivek Ramaswamy.

Social media platforms have further amplified these narratives into targeted harassment, including doxxing and physical confrontations by influencers like Sara Gonzalez. Additionally, the proliferation of generative AI has simplified the creation of derogatory and threatening content.

Although primarily tracking digital trends, researchers emphasize that online hostility directly mirrors and reinforces offline violence, citing incidents such as the July stabbing of an Indian Muslim mall employee in Utah—charged as a hate crime by federal prosecutors—and the September stabbing of a Sikh truck driver 17 times at a Wyoming truck stop.